You’ve heard of solar and wind power — but Wales’s leading science discovery centre is set to use fish to generate electricity for its new £5.7 million building in Cardiff.
Techniquest, which provides engaging STEM education to people across Wales, is exploring harnessing the power of fish from the adjacent bay area to help power its new Science Capital building.
The building initiative, which was approved earlier this year, will add an additional 60% of exhibition space to the Cardiff centre, including a community space, café and shop, along with a roof terrace and courtyard.
Due to the significant expansion, Techniquest has explored utilising alternative and innovative local sources for generating power, which led to the implementation of Project Scale-ectric.
The project will work by using local fish species, including Bream, Carp, and Rudd, which will be penned into a smaller area near to the discovery centre for up to an hour each day, where motion sensitive wires capture their energy and transfer it back to Techniquest.
As part of the environmentally-friendly proposals, Techniquest has worked closely with STEM, energy, and marine biology specialists across Wales to ensure that the project is both viable and safe for use in the bay.
The fish power initiative ties in with the science discovery centre’s sustainable ethos and forms part of its eco-friendly plans for the Science Capital going forwards.
Chief executive officer of Techniquest Lesley Kirkpatrick said the centre was proud to be leading the way when it comes to adopting ground-breaking new energy sources.
She said: “At Techniquest we have a proud tradition of introducing innovative new STEM-based education and ideas across Wales, and we feel that Project Scale-ectric is absolutely in keeping with this.
“This ground-breaking initiative is in keeping with our ongoing mission to become more sustainable and promote greater sustainability across Wales, so we are delighted to officially announce it.
“Thanks to the support from some of Wales’s leading experts in both the energy and marine biology fields, we will be able to generate up to 30% more energy for our expanded new building project in a clean and environmentally-friendly manner.
“We will also be launching an exhibit in the new space to explore our new energy-efficient concept, how it was created, and its wide-ranging benefits.
“We hope that this will not just be interesting but educational for thousands of people who visit us from across Wales each year.”